Game Notes
The University of Evansville softball team will make its home debut this week, opening James and Dorothy Cooper Stadium for its first game of the 2011 season with a double header against UT-Martin Thursday before hosting Creighton Saturday and Sunday for the first weekend series of the Missouri Valley Conference season.
The Aces were originally scheduled to open the home season against UT-Martin on Wednesday, but field conditions have forced the game to be pushed back till Thursday. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 CDT Thursday. The second game of the doubleheader will begin approximately 20 minutes after the end of the first game.
Thursday’s first game against UT-Martin will begin at 2:00 CDT, with the nightcap starting approximately 20 minutes after the end of the first game.
The Aces (3-14) return to their home field after spending the first four weekends of the 2011 season on the road.
Posting a 2-3 record at last weekend’s Masked Rider Invitational, in Lubbock, Texas, Evansville is most recently coming off a pair of losses to No. 19 Texas Tech (as ranked by NFCA/USA Today). The Aces were able to take two wins from Alcorn State to secure the series sweep of the Lady Braves on the weekend.
Junior Amy Gaertner led the Aces at the plate in Texas, going 5-for-13 on the weekend with a double and a pair of home runs while not recording a single strikeout during the five-game tournament. Freshman Niki Rahming turned in a .750 batting average in Saturday’s win over Alcorn State, tallying four RBI with a double and a triple.
In the circle, freshman Taylor Perry threw 5.2 innings of scoreless relief for the Aces on the weekend. On Friday, the Crown Point, Ind., native held Alcorn State to just one hit in 2.0 innings of relief to secure the win for the Aces. Perry delivered again in Sunday’s game against Texas Tech, holding the Red Raider offense scoreless in the final 3.2 innings, scattering just four hits while fanning one batter.
Scouting The Skyhawks
UT-Martin 13-8, 3-0 Ohio Valley ConferenceThe Skyhawks are riding a three-game winning streak, coming off three conference wins over Murray State in the OVC’s opening weekend. UT-Martin brings a .256 team batting average with its top six hitters batting over .250. Amanda Brandenburg owns the highest average, hitting .323 at the plate with five doubles and 15 runs batted in on the season. The Skyhawks have totaled 22 home runs this season, led by Leah Taylor, who has hit five out already. Last season, the Skyhawks finished ranked 16th among NCAA Division I teams with an average of 1.22 home runs per game with a total of 71 home runs on the season.
UT-Martin’s pitching staff owns a 2.90 ERA in the circle with a .248 opposing batting average. Chelsea Jones has done a majority of the pitching, posting a 0.99 ERA while collecting 74 strikeouts in 49.1 innings of work.
